California currently has 685 people on death row, yet hasn't carried out an execution in almost four years. Half a dozen states have put executions on hold largely over concerns about execution procedures. Other states are reconsidering the death penalty because of its costs.

California is in the middle of a process to update its execution procedures, and some death penalty opponents say the state should throw out capital punishment altogether, saving more than a hundred million dollars a year. In part five of our series "Criminal Neglect: California's Failing Prison System" we look at the death penalty. Christopher Martinez files this report.